BLOG 24: A credit union by any other name….

Being a native New Yorker all conversations start with – So what do you do? Well I am starting up a Credit Union. After the mental gears grind as to what is a Credit Union – the next question is usually So what its name – ehh not sure yet. Thus endth the conversation. What started out as something that was a little annoying has become a big problem. From business cards to chartering everything is on hold until we have an official name. So, why don’t you just decide on one, you might ask. Well, it’s not as easy as it seems. The NCUA had specific guidelines for credit union names, be as narrow as possible and as tied to your field of membership as imaginable. To get approval we have to stick to those guidelines, but of course we also have dreams of our own. We want our name to represent us, and grow with us.
Our fields of membership will be New Brunswick, but it we ever expand our field of membership will grow and if we were the New Brunswick Federal Credit Union that would be easier to approve. Thus begins the back and forth process. 9 or 10 e-mails later we are getting close. The key is respect. Jim may keep rejecting idea like being called Open Federal Credit Union, but he gives reasons – the NCUA used to grant “open” charters, and because we would not have an open charter our name would be considered misleading. We count ourselves lucky because he does get back to us. No small feat when dealing with regulators. If you want to open anything that is regulated it helps to have a thick skin, the ability to respond quickly, and the sensitivity to know that everyone has a job to do. Poor Jim, he has to deal with us, and we are trying to do something that the regulators probably haven’t seen as much. We seriously count ourselves lucky to work with him. After much discussion we finally figure out a name that makes everyone happy.

Welcome to the blog of the proposed Internet Archive Federal Credit Union.

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Tell your friends the truth about credit unions

You don’t need to wait for some special holiday to give the gift I’m about to suggest. If you are a good friend, neighbor, relative, coworker or whatever you will give the gift of credit union membership. Okay, wait don’t leave, let me tell you the real reason you should do this, and it’s not just warm and fuzzy.

First, I can’t understand why anyone decides to open an account at a bank. I’ve done it and can only think of one time when that was a good idea. I was just out of college and switched from one bank to another. That bank helped me save, so it worked out well. No other bank ever did this for me, but I’m sure that bank is out of business now. So, why use a traditional bank? Maybe, it’s the location thing. Or maybe it’s all the advertising. I sort of understand that, these things give the impression of stability and strength—that’s exactly what they want you to think. But after this year we know it’s not true.

Yes, it was a bad year to be a banker. But wasn’t it bad banker behavior that brought on the mess? Yes, it was. Bankers making bad loans were the instigators in the fall of our economy. So then what happened? Oh you know. The banks took taxpayer funds to save themselves. And, then what? Remember, then a bunch of banks failed, closed their doors. The good news? Some banks are actually paying back the money they used to get their act together. But now they won’t lend money at all. Well that’s not really true, but they are being rather tight with it. Hey, didn’t we give them money when they needed it?

Okay, so that’s the summary of what happened to banks, but what was going on with credit unions during this. Did credit unions take bailouts and close? Well, some did, sort of, but not really. It’s true that some credit unions did close or merge. It was the corporate credit unions who took some bailout money. These are the institutions that handle the investments for credit unions. And of course, because the economy’s investments were struggling, so were these institutions. But, for the most part credit unions were operating with business as usual. They were still lending money, they weren’t cutting credit lines like home equity lines, and they weren’t hiking credit card fees. They were also still issuing mortgages, respectable mortgages.

During the economic crisis to date 30 credit unions and 140 banks failed. That leaves 11,000 credit unions and 8,099 banks open. So, you see credit unions have remained stable even during this unstable time. Well, back to my point…

Times are still tough for many people. So don’t let your friends stay with a bank that’s going to make it tougher as they dream up new fees and tighten lending. The idea of switching financial institutions is painful. It requires that you actually do something and take time out of your busy schedule to get that something done. But, that’s the idea of switching. The reality of switching isn’t that bad and the gain of the switch is great. Once I joined a credit union, I’ve never looked back. It was the best financial move I’ve made.

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